ia too
to have plenty of people about who don't do any work nor take any
trouble about anything because they've got a nice fat God who'll do it
all for them if they'll only be patient. Thats why we're beating the
Germans so handsomely--the poor Germans, who only, ignorant heathens
as they are, believe in themselves."

He looked at us all with a friendly patronising contempt.

"That's your point of view, Alexei Petrovitch," Nikitin answered
rather hotly. "Think as you please of course. But there's more in life
than you can see--there is indeed."

"Of course there is," said Semyonov lazily, "much more. I'm an
ignorant, rough man. I like things as they are and make the best of
them, so, of course, I'm not clever. Mr.'s clever, aren't you, Mr.?
All the same he doesn't know how to put his boots on properly. If he
put his boots on better and knew less about God he might be of more
use at the Front, perhaps. That's only my idea, and I daresay I'm
wrong.... All the same, for the sake of the comfort _and_ the pockets
of all of us I do hope you'll really rouse your God and ask Him to do
something sensible--something with method in it and a few more bullets
in it and a little more efficiency in it. You might ask Him to do what
He can...."

He looked at us, laughing; then he said to Trenchard, "But don't you
fear, Mr. You'll go to heaven all right. Even though it's the wise men
who succeed in this world, I don't doubt it's the fools who have their
way in the next."

He left us.

Semyonov was with every new day more baffled by Marie Ivanovna. In the
first place she quietly refused to obey him. We were now much occupied
with the feeding of the peasants in a village stricken with cholera on
the other side of the river. A gloomy enough business it was and I
shall have, very shortly, to speak of it in detail. For the moment it
is enough to say that two of us went off every morning with a kitchen
on wheels, distributed the food, and returned in the afternoon.
Semyonov intensely disliked Marie Ivanovna's share in this work, but
he could not, of course, object to her taking, with the other Sisters,
the risks and unpleasantness of it. He made, whenever it was possible,
objections, found her work at the hospital where he himself was,
occupied her in every possible way. But he did this against her will.
She seemed to find a very especial pleasure and excitement in the
cholera work; she wished often to take the place of some other Sist